Safety razor



Dec. 18, 1934. z, A. KEITH 1,984,586'

SAFETY RAZOR Filed Feb. 13, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l VY-ITNESS INVENTOR 4 Za/da 1 7. 162/7/7. 6%,, W I BY Q MORN EY 7 2. A. KEITH SAFETY RAZOR Dec. 18, 1934 Filed Feb. 13, 1932 2 Shee tsSheet 2 INVENTOR dill? m m m T H .M 4

mm Z Patented Dec. 18, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT .OFFICE 8Claims.

My invention relates to razors and it has special reference to so-called.safety razors of the power-driven type.

One object of my invention is to provide a safety razor which-will give the user a close,

satisfying shave without the use of lather, cream or the like. v

A further object of my invention is to provide a razor in which adriven blade member so cooperates with a stationary blade member as to 'efiect a shearing action upon the skirnof the user to remove hairs therefrom.

Another object of my invention is to provide a razor of the class indicated, wherein a recipro eating motion is transmitted 'by a rotatable or vibratory driving member to a blade which slides over a second or lower bladeto produce a shearing action upon a users skin.

Viewed from another angle, an object of my invention is to provide a safety razor with -a stationary supporting member in the head thereof, together with a reoiprocable blade operating along one side of the, supporting member and driven by apparatus that operates on the other side of the supporting member.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide a safety razor head with a casing having an interior partition forming a plurality of compartments therein, in one of which a shearing razor blade is rapidly reciprocated and in the other of which a rotatable driving motion is changed to a reciprocating motion, which is thereupon transferred to the movable blade member. v

A further object of my invention is to pro vide a razor head casing embodying a guard for resiliently biasing a movable blade to its proper position or seat.

A more specific object of my invention is' to provide a guard for a safety razor hinged in a spring and biased thereby-to press down on the front portion of a movable blade, together with another spring member on the guard to press down 'on the rear portion of the blade.

Other objects of myinvention will become evi dent from the following detailed description takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a view in longitudinal cross-section and Fig. 2 in corresponding side elevation of a safety razor constructed inaccordance with my present invention,

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the razor shown in Figs. 1 and 2,-'and Fig. 4 is a view, partially in longitudinal sec-- tion, andpartially in elevation, of a modification of the structure shown in the other figures.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, the structure there shown comprises a suitable integral or plural-part handle or grip 1, to the upper end of which is secured a casing or head 2 containing mechanism which is driven by means of a suitable motive device such as a flexible shaft apparatus 3 attached to a rigid shaft 4 operating within the handle 1.

' The flexible shaft apparatus 3 may be of any well-known type driven by a suitablemotor (not shown), being here shown as comprising a series of links 5, the uppermost of which is suitably attached to the lower end of the rigid shaft 4. A helical spring guard 6 extends from the opening at the end of the handle 1 around'the chain of links 5, in accordance with well-known practice.

As will be understood, if desired a vibrating or solenoid type of motor may be employed, as will be described in connection with Fig. 4, or a rotary motor directly connected to the shaft 4 and supported by the handle -1 may be utilized.

The solid shaft 4 passes through a suitable hole or opening '1 in the upper central portion of the handle 1 and terminates in a head 9 having an eccentrically positioned spherical or balllike portion 8 for a purpose to be described.

The head or casing 2 comprises a lower shell or body member 11 and an upper cap 15. The lowermost portion of the shell 11 is attached by suitable rivets or the like 12 to an outwardly extending flange on the upper end of the handle portion 1. .A resilient strip or spring member 13 is hinged at the point 14 upon the rear side of the shell 11, and its upper end is so bent as to form a detachable spring hinge 16 for the cap 15, which has downwardly depending wings or sides detachably and resiliently secured to the sides of the shell 11 by means of buttons or bosses 10 fltting'into the ends of suitable slots 23 in the shell 11. The purpose of the spring hinge 16 will be set forth later.

A stationary partition or irregular plate member 17 extends across the approximate middle section of the head 2, as clearly indicated in Fig. 1, being secured on the rear side of the shell 11 -by means of small screws 18 and near the front is recessed to receive a stationary blade member 20, which is secured to the partition 17 by means of suitable small screws 21 and which, near its outer edge, is provided with a transverse slot 22, as most clearly shown in Fig. 3. The purpose of this stationary blade member will be described shortly.

For the purpose of changing the rotative motion of the shaft 4 into a desired reciprocatory motion, a driving member or plate 25 extends along the underside of the partition 17 and is provided with a plurality of openings 26, 27 and 28. The opening 26 is oval in shape and encloses the ball-like portion 8 on the upper end of the shaft 4, whereby rotative movement of this shaft imparts, through the eccentrically mounted ball-like portion 8, a sliding or reciprocatory motion along the lower side of the partition 17 to the plate 25. In order to .hold the plate 25 upon the lower side of the partition 17, a plurality of small screws 29 extends through the respective openings 2'7 and 28 and into the underside of the partition 1'7. .Suitable washers 30 are located underneath the heads of the screws 29, whereby reciprocatory movement of the plate 25, as directed by the ball-like portion 8, is permitted, by reason of the plate 25 sliding back and forth with respect tothe small screws 29 because of the openings 27 and 28 surrounding the same.

An aperture 31 is provided in the partition 17 intermediate the two small screws 29, through which aperture a pin 32 extends, which, at one end, is securely fastened in any suitable manner to the reciprocatory plate 25 and, at its other end, to a slidable plate 33, which is adapted to slide back and forth within certain limits on the upper side of the partition 17. This sliding motion is, of course, permitted by reason of the fact that the pin 32 is much smaller in diameter than the opening 31 surrounding the same.

A movable or reciprocatory razor blade 34 extends, as illustrated, from the slot 22 to a point near the spring member 13 on the rear side 'of the casing 2, this blade thus resting, in part, upon the stationary blade member 20 and then upon the reciprocatory plate 33, to which the blade 34 is secured by suitable small screws 35, or the like.

The cap 15, it will be noted, presses downwardly upon the movable blade 34 near the front end thereof by reason of the fact that the spring 13, in which the cap 15 is hinged, produces a downward pressure or bias upon the cap for this purpose. To attach the cap 15 in its illustrated position, the spring 13 is opened or thrown. backwardly about its hinge 14, and the cap is then slid into position by pressing it downwardly and forwardly, with the side slots 23 sliding along the bosses 10. The spring hinge 16 is then pressed to the illustrated position to hold the cap 15 in its proper place. In addition, a small curved or finger spring 37 may be used, if desired, to bear upon the movable blade 34 at the rear portion thereof, this spring being suitably secured, as by a rivet 38, to the underside of the cap 15.

The operation of my safety razor may be described as follows. The razor is handled and operated in general in the same manner as the ordinary safety razor, that is, the cap 15 and stationary blade 20 will be disposed approximately parallel to the section of the skin it is desired to shave, and advance of the razor as a whole over the skin will be directed by the movement of the user's hand upon the grip or handle 1, as is customary. However, by.reason of the reciprocatory motion imparted to the movable blade 34 when the flexible shaft 5 is rotated, and the fact that the sharpened front edge of the movable blade 34 passes over the slot22 in the stationary blade 20, a shearing action upon the facial hairs or the like is produced, which provides a close and satisfying shave without lather or cream and, at the same time, a safe one, as the movable blade 34 cannot dig into the face.

Referring to Fig. 4, the modification there shown utilizes a vibratory or solenoid type of motor. The handle or grip 41 houses a suitable magnet coil 42 operating upoma central magnetizable core or plunger 43. For supplying the usual -cycle house current to the coil 42, a standard detachable plug-and-socket connection 44 may be utilized at the lower end of the handle 41 and, in addition, I preferably provide a small hand switch 45, similar to that employed in pocket flash-lights, for permitting the user to start or stop the razor as he desires.

The upper end 46 of the plunger 43 is encased by a coil spring 47 made of brass or other nonmagnetizable material and normally extendin above the upper end 46.

Resting upon the upper end of the spring 4'1 is an armature or keeper 48 of magnetizable material, forming one end of a bell-crank lever 49, intermediately pivoted at 50 upon a stationary member 51, and having its other end pivoted at 52 to a slidable plate 53, corresponding to the slidable plate 33 of Fig. 1, and to which the movable razor blade 34 is secured. The stationary member 51 may be attached by small screws 54 to the under side of the partition or plate member 17.

The remaining portions of the razor illustrated in Fig. 4 are substantially the same as those shown in the other figures, as indicated by like reference characters.

The operation of this form of my invention may be described as follows. Upon operation of switch 45, when the razor is properly connected to the source of electricity, the plunger 43 vibrates in accordance with the frequency of the current, alternately magnetically energizing and de-energizing the armature 48. The spring 47 prevents the magnetizable parts 43 and 48 from engaging and sticking together and, in addition, its elastic compression and expansion, following the frequency of the current, imparts, in conjunction with theabove-described magnetic action, a vibration to the bell-crank lever 49 which, in turn, is transferred into a reciprocatory movement of plate 53 and razor blade 34.

It will be understood that the use of this form of my razor, in shaving, is the same as that previously described.

Furthermore, no lather, cream, or the like, upon the face is required by reason of the fact that the shearing action of my razor clips or shears the hairs off without requiring the aid of soap, or the like, either as a lubricant or as a hair stifiener or softener, as is the case with ordinary straight and safety razors which operate by means of scraping the skin and thereby cutting off the hairs.

It will be seen, therefore, that I have provided ing off the facial hairs in lieu of scraping them oil. 7 e

I do not wish to be restricted to the speciflc structural details or arrangement of parts herein set forth, as various modifications thereof may be effected without departing from the spirit andzscope of my invention. I desire, therefore, that only such limitations shall be imposed as are indicated in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention: l. A razor comprising a driving member, a lower stationary blade, amovabie upper blade, and a stationary supporting and guiding member disposed between said driving member and upper blade, ,said upper blade closely sliding over said lower blade towards and away from the skin to shear hairs therefrom, said movable blade lying substantially in a plane parallel to the direction of use whereby it may be positioned at small angles to the skin.

2. A razor comprising a driving member, a fiat stationary blade having a slot therein, and a movable blade driven by said driving member and having a sharpened front edge to cooperate with said slot in said stationary blade to produce a shearing action upon facial hairs and the like, said movable blade lying above the stationary blade to be positioned close to the skin of the user and substantially in a plane parallel to the direction of use whereby it may be posi tioned at small angles to the skin.

3. A razor comprising a driving member, a

- flat stationary blade having a slot therein, and

a movable blade-driven by said driving member to closely slide over said slot in said stationary blade to shear hairs from the skin, said movable blade lying above the stationary, blade to be positioned close to the skin of the user and substantially in a plane parallel to the direction of use whereby it may be positioned at small angles to the skin.

4. A razor comprising a vibratory driving member, a stationary blade having a slot therein, and a flat blade reciprocally driven by said extending transversely near the outer edge thereof, and an upper blade having a sharpened front edge reciprocally driven by said driving member back and forth across said slot to shear hairs from the skin, said reciprocally driven blade being positioned on that side of the other blade facing the user and lying substantially in a plane parallel to the direction of use whereby it may be positioned at small angles to the skin.

6. A razor comprising a rotatable driving member having an eccentrically positioned balllike portion, astationary supporting member, a structure adapted to be reciprocated by said portion along one side of said supporting member, a stationary blade and a flat blade structure secured to the first-named structure to be reciprocated along the other side of said supporting member, said reciprocally driven blade being positioned on that side of the other blade facing the user and lying substantially in a plane parallel to the direction of use whereby it may be positioned at small angles to the skin.

'7. A razor comprising a rotatable driving member having an eccentrically positioned balllike portion, a head having a casing with an apertured interior partition forming two compartments therein, a member adapted to be reciprocated by said portion within one of said compartments, a stationary blade, a pin secured to ber disposed between said driving and driven members, said driven member constituting a blade memberfor cooperating with said firstnamed blade member to effect a shearing action towards and away from the skin to remove hairs therefrom, said driven blade member being positioned on that side of the other blade member facing the user and lyingsubstantially in a plane parallel to the direction of use whereby it may be positioned at small angles to the skin.

ZALDA A. KEITH. 

